Dentons advises on sale/leaseback of five Waitrose Limited stores

London—Dentons has advised John Lewis Partnership on the sale and leaseback of five Waitrose Limited stores to property investor LondonMetric for £62 million. The stores will continue to trade as normal, leased back to Waitrose Limited for 20 years with the option to extend for a longer period.

Located in Keynsham, Malmesbury, Paddock Wood, Towcester and Yateley, the stores range in size from 27,000 sq ft up to 43,000 sq ft and also operate as online fulfilment centres for both Waitrose Limited and John Lewis Partnership.

Deepa Deb, head of Dentons' UK Real Estate practice, led on the transaction. She comments, "The investment market for supermarkets remains strong and we are delighted to have advised longstanding client, the John Lewis Partnership on this transaction, which will enable it to reinvest into areas of strategic growth for the business."

Deepa was assisted by associates Alexis Condie and Amy Smith.

Over the past year, Dentons' UK Real Estate team has advised on several high profile transactions such as Doosan Babcock's continued occupation of its site in Renfrew (billed as Scotland's largest industrial property deal in 2019), Sports Direct's sale and leaseback of its Derbyshire distribution centre, and the sale of the Hampton by Hilton at Bristol Airport to Ability Group.

Dentons has launched several tools for businesses over the past few months to help with real estate issues related to COVID-19 across England, Wales and Scotland, including the COVID-19 Interactive Agreement Tool Kit and COVID-19 Interactive Lease Tool Kit. See all insights and resources on Dentons' global COVID-19 hub.

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